IBM’s longtime partnership with SHARE, the first independent computer user group built to influence the direction of products, has developed right alongside System z over the last 50 years. SHARE’s requirements process has played a key role in the partnership as IBM has addressed over 500 user group requirements over the last few operating system releases. Click here to learn more about how both SHARE and IBM have invested in and reaped benefits from this partnership.

For some, the appeal of alternatives has driven them to consider substitutes for the mainframe. For a couple of decades, some companies have tried to abandon the mainframe instead of trying to work through issues. They have spent millions of dollars and multiple man-years trying to move off of the mainframe, but results have not been forthcoming. Figuratively, they were choosing divorce over dialog and both parties end up losing.